ANNEXES

Annex 1: Tanzania agriculture in brief

Annex 2: Summary of main PRA findings

Research in Mbeya revealed that nearly 30 percent of the households in Ileje District are headed by women (de facto and de jure), 46 percent of the households in Ilulu village, 37 percent in Isongole and 28 percent in Izuba. A high percentage of these female-headed households are in the low resource category: 35 percent in Ilulu village, 36 percent in Isolgole village, and 50 percent at Izubu.

The farmers themselves characterised what is considered a low resource household as: (1) elderly or handicapped, (2) families with small farms (less than an acre), (3) absence of livestock (even ownership of chickens), (4) poor food security (threatened with food shortages up to five months annually), (5) structurally weak housing, (6) no use of fertilisers, (7) widows or widowers, and (8) insufficient or absence of capital. Women from these households are between ages 49 and 75, lack primary education, are predominantly dependent on farming, harvest fewer than four bags of maize annually, have up to 12 household members, and nearly all are widows. Concerning division of labour in cultivation of maize, men contributed an average 45 percent of the required time, and women about 55 percent. In cultivation of beans, women contributed an average 80 percent of the required labour input, and men the remaining 20 percent.

There are seasonal variations on women's activities in Ileje. Collection of firewood takes place between June and December. The heaviest workloads are in the main agricultural season between November and April, which is for that reason a stressful period. In June when harvests are in, fieldwork is minimal and water is abundant, women enjoy a time of relative rest. Women can engage in income-generating activities (mainly beer brewing and mat making) between July and September.

Problems affecting women at Ileje include distance to health services, excessive workloads, absence of a crop market, food shortages, scarcity of piped water, poor access to farm inputs, no ownership of milling machines, absence of n oil presses, no access to improved farming tools and weak purchasing power.

PRA & Gender Analysis Research in Zanzibar North

In Zanzibar North, an average 25 percent of households are headed by women: 19 percent in Misufini, 32 percent in Kinyasini, and 25 percent in Pwani Mchangani. In addition female-headed households are almost always in the low resource category. Eighty seven percent of Misufini's female headed households and 94 percent of Kinyasini's female-headed households are in the low resource category.

Most women in Zanzibar North work in agriculture (an average of 79 percent), but also work in handicrafts (37 percent). Women from middle resource households engage in seaweed farming (50 percent). Seventy two percent have had no regular schooling and 47 percent are functionally illiterate. The most common alternative form of education for women is quern school (for 47 percent). A great majority (82 percent) had no access to formal training such as agricultural, adult education, entrepreneurial or crafts courses.

On access to production resources, 91 percent of women do not utilise agricultural inputs (97 percent of women from low resource households). Those women appear not to use either fertilisers or manure. Their own harvest are the most common source of seeds.

Formal means of credit are not accessed by 86 percent of the women, (97 percent of women from low resource households). Informal sources of credit are more accessible. Rotating savings and credit associations (Roscos) are available to 23 percent of women. Friends provide funds to 14 percent of women. Access to extension services is generally low, with more than 80 percent of women having no access.

The largest part of women's labour input goes towards weeding (42 percent as against men's 34 percent), planting and sowing (25 percent to men's 15 percent), land preparations (21 percent equal to men's), harvesting (9 percent vis-à-vis men's 11 percent), and ridging (2 percent against men's 13 percent).

Many women work on their own fields in order to be independent from their husbands and make more autonomous decisions on the disposition of their earnings. Reasons for working alone include; being divorced or separated, being too old, working on different plots due to earlier marriages or the husband having more than one wife, or simply due to having separate property. Nevertheless, the majority of women in Zanzibar work on their farms together with their husbands.

Priority problems encountered by women in Zanzibar North include crop pests and rampant grazing by livestock. Low incomes are also a priority problem. Problems in the area of marketing and crop prices are experienced by one-fifth of the women. Considering that men carry out nearly all of the marketing in Zanzibar, women cannot effectively control the amount of money used in selling or purchasing crops from their own farms. Male relatives, sons or neighbours are used marketing produce in households where women have no husbands.

PRA & Gender Analysis Research in Dodoma Rural District

In Dodoma, an average 33 percent of households in Mvumi Division are headed by women, either in a de facto or de jure marital status. 70 percent of single women are widows. Nearly all of the women-headed households are in the low resource category. On education, 51 percent of women in Mvumi have not had regular schooling. However, an average 40 percent are literate. The only other form of education accessed by 23 percent of women is religious training. Agricultural training is accessed by only 8 percent of women. Most women consider farming their mainstay, and 25 percent mention livestock keeping. All women from low resource households depend solely on farming.

Health workers are the most common encountered extension workers. Axes, the second most common tool, are in 60 percent of women households followed by the machete. Formal credit is not accessible to 92 percent of the women, while informal credit sources are not available to about 83 percent of women in Mvumi Division.

The most common problem experienced by women is crop pests. Seventy percent of women mentioned this problem. Second is low income (40 percent), followed by health issues (30 percent) and markets and prices (23 percent).

Perhaps what's most striking is the amount of labour women contribute in all stages of agricultural production of main food and cash crops. At Handali village, 78 percent of the women are involved in all stages of agricultural production, compared to an average 29 percent of the men. Harvesting is the single task where all women partake without exceptions. Other tasks where women contribute almost all labour are; seed planting, storage, farm clearing, seed preparation, weeding, carrying and milling.

Concerning decision-making, women in Handali village contribute to decisions on what type of crops to grow, where to plant, what techniques to use, and how to distribute income from sale of crops. Women are similarly strongly engaged in deciding: whether money should be borrowed, whether livestock (or poultry) should be sold, how income accruing from sale of livestock should be distributed, and if surplus crops need be retailed. Overall, 71 percent of women in the village are involved in decisions made within their households on a wide range of issues.

Annex 3: Tables on key gender issues in agriculture

Table 1: The percentage of female head of households to the total head of households in rural areas, Tanzania Mainland, 1990

Table 2: The percentage of female head of households to the total head of households in rural areas, Zanzibar, 1993

Table 3: Men and Women's Role in Decision-Making within the Household, Jitengi Village, Korogwe District, Tanga Region

Table 4: Gender Involvement in Various Agricultural Activities: Involvement in percent (average)